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Onondaga Community College trustees approve contract for administrators

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OCC President Dr. Casey Crabill at commencement in May.
Laurel Saiz, president of Local 1845 of the OCC Federation of Teachers and Administrators, credits Crabill for helping to bring a spirit of collegiality to contract negotiations. Stephen D. Cannerelli | scannerelli@syracuse.com.
(Stephen D. Cannerelli | scannerelli@syracuse.com)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Onondaga Community College trustees today approved a five-year
contact with its 111 professional administrators.

The contract will increase salaries 10.95 percent over five
years.

The current contract expires Aug. 31. This is the first time in decades that a
contract with this group has been agreed upon before the previous one expired, said Meg O'Connell,
president of the board of trustees, who called the agreement "historic."

Professional administrators, who hold positions such as director and assistant director of admissions or financial services, or coordinator of grounds, are part of the same union as faculty, but negotiate through a separate bargaining unit.

"This college has been well-known across the state for its contentious
relationship between its bargaining units and its administration," O'Connell
said. "In years past, there were
protests, signs and years of faculty (and administrators) working without a contract."

The contract under which professional administrators are now working was settled three years past the expiration date of the previous contract.

OCC faculty are scheduled to vote on a contract next
week. OCC has 186 full-time faculty, 3
permanent part-time faculty and 214 adjuncts who are eligible to vote.

Laurel Saiz, president of OCC's Federation of Teachers and Administrators, Local 1845, and a negotiator for both the administrator and faculty
bargaining units, credited the success in part to the commitment of OCC President
Casey Crabill. Soon after she began her
job last year, Crabill publicly committed to negotiating new contracts with administrators
and faculty before they expired.

During these negotiations, representatives for the college administration
could respond to bargaining unit proposals at negotiating meetings, unlike in prior
years, when it would take days or weeks to respond to proposals, Saiz said.

Negotiation talks began in November, Saiz said.

Under the new contract for professional administrators,
retirement age increases from 55 to 58 in 2017, healthcare and dental premium
contributions increase by 1 percent each year, reaching 23 percent for
healthcare and 13 percent for dental by 2019.

"In the current economy, having a secure contract is a real
plus," Saiz said.